Finding May
by Renzieyoung
Summary: When Barley passed away, May cried. Stu made her a promise when she left Flower Bud Village, but he was never the same without her. Six years later, May returns once more. But can Stu still fulfill that promise?


**Finding May**

**By Renzieyoung**

**Summary:** When Barley passed away, May cried. Stu made her a promise, but he also lied. May left Flower Bud Village, and no one was the same without her. Six years later, she returns. But Stu's hiding secrets and why is that pretty girl he's with acting as if they're together? May was confused, but now she's broken and lost. And no one – not even herself – can seem to find her.

**Notes**: I'm so glad for this story :) _Finding May _is my first Harvest Moon fan-fiction, so please enjoy! And as always, reviews are so so so so so so so so so so so so so _appreciated_.

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**Chapter 1: **The Beginning

"May?"

She looked up from her folded hands and gazed into the soft brown eyes filled with sympathy. The wrinkles beside them were evident, but they only proved how often Pastor Carter smiled.

"We've finished looking through your grandfather's will," he said.

There was a lock of hair hanging bothersomely in her face, but she didn't bother to brush it away. May could see from the corner of her eye that it looked limp and unkept. Pitifully, she asked herself when she'd last brushed her hair.

A day ago, maybe. Or was it before that?

May couldn't remember. Time seemed like it was moving forward, but she just wasn't going with it. Wasn't growing older. Wasn't smiling any longer.

"He's left you with all of his possessions -- including the farm," Pastor Carter said with a solemn nod. "But you'retooyoung to run everything by yourself, May, andit seems the only relative you have left lives hours away from here."

'_Aunt June_,' May thought to herself. Another month name. It seemed like a tradition in their family. There had once been a Cousin April and Augustus, but their deaths had been...

She let her gazedrop to the floor. It seemed impossible that all of her relatives could be dead but one... It's like they'd all disappeared into thin air, without a single goodbye or a single smile to reassure her. They gave May nothing to prevent herself from asking, "Why me? Why does it always have to be _me_?"

May felt tears stinging at her eyes, and a sense of loneliness was building inside her ten year old self. But on the outside, Pastor Carter was still there explaining all the in's and out's of living arrangements.

"We asked Ms. June Whitmore if she'd rather come to Flower Bud Village, but she seems rather insistent on you flying out there instead." A frown ruined Pastor Carter's face, and for the first time May saw the sadness in his eyes. "However, she _is _your legal guardian now... And as much as I want to, I can't say anything to stop her."

The smile reappeared on his face, but it looked far from happy. He patted her hand lovingly, resting it there for a long, silent moment.

"I know death is hard, May... It takes everyone by surprise." The Pastor sighed deeply. "But just know that God has greater things in store for you where you're going next... I'm sure of it."

It took her a long time to answer. In that time, her memories flashed back to every moment, every happy feeling that she had ever had in the village. There were so many, and now...now what? Nothing, it felt like. But the hopeful look on Pastor Carter's face reminded her that this was what she had to do. Trembling slightly, May found a way to finally look up into his eyes.

"...'Kay," she said, her high voice wavering. All the while, it was hard not to notice the tears thatdribbled down the curves of her cheeks and down the edge of her chin.

-

-

"May, honey, where did you put it?"

An adolescent girl looked up, tucking a strand of dark brown hair behind her ear. Her expression was mellow -- the one she usually wore nowadays. Before it had always been an expression of troubled sadness...with her grandfather's death and the move from Flower Bud Village, there had been no time to smile.

"I think it's in the bottom drawer."

"Oh, of course!" Her aunt June smiled gleefully, almost like a child. It was that particular smile that helped May through the difficult times, and she was grateful for it. But before moving to White Shores City, she had no idea what Aunt June would be like.

She was, in fact, very pretty -- just like her grandfather had always said. But June Whitmore was the kind of "beautiful" that didn't belong on a magazine cover. She was beautiful in how her eyes sparkled at every remark -- something that a camera could never capture. The way she consoled someone and how she introduced herself and the way she threw back her shoulders in a confident posture.

Everyone loved Aunt June, but May had always been the one to love her the most.

"Hm? Nope, not here." June placed her hands on her hips, surveying the kitchen. "Darn... It must be around somewhere."

"Maybe it's in the cabinet above the stove," May suggested while turning on her computer monitor. The girl logged into her e-mail --a device that was rarely used in her old-fashioned village. But now that she lived so far away, she couldn't count on snail-mail to keep in touch.

>>>

To: Mayflower16  
From: PinkPopuri01  
Subject: >>JUST OPEN IT!

MAY,

Oh my god! Oh my god!

You'll _never _guess what happened. Kai proposed to me JUST NOW. Well, eleven minutes ago actually(I wrote down the time and date on pink post-it notes and spread them around the town. Teehee.) But YES! _The _Kai. Olive-skinned-bandana-wearing-summer-beach-boy-oh-my-god-he's-so-hot Kai.

Well actually, the entire town said they saw his proposal coming. I don't see _how_ though, ever since that scandal with Gray happened two years ago... Boy, was _that_ a mistake. I'm sure you remember from the essay-length e-mail I sent you. Hehe... But anyway, Gray and I've both accepted what happened that night and we've already moved on. I think he even has a little something for Ms. Maria(Who would've thought he'd be into the smarty-pants type?).

So life is wonderful at the moment. Ahhh, I can't wait until you get married, May. You're only sixteen, but I've sure you remembered how _everyone_ pressured me into marriage at that age. Of course, now everyone thinks I'm old and wrinkly at the age of twenty-two. HAHA! Shows what you get for not marrying young.

Oops, I'm rambling. You know I always do, love.

The main points of this e-mail being: A) I'M GETTING MARRIED TO THE SEXIEST MAN ALIVE, B) You are officially invited(Duh.), and C) Everyone loves and misses you, so come back ASAP.

Oh! And by the way... Well, you remember Stu, right? Six years can't break up a friendship like that. He's missing you and he asks about you more than a young man should.

WINK WINK WINK FOR GOD'S SAKE.

Okay, I'm sorry. Serious, now.

Love,  
your forever friend POPURI.

>>>

Stu had..._asked _about her?

May sat there in stunned silence. No way...it couldn't be true. She peered at the screen, re-reading Popuri's words over and over again. It had been six years since they had made _The Promise. _Six whole years of being apart from each other without a word of contact. May was surprised he even remembered her.

...Well, that's not to say she would ever forgot about _him_. Every memory the two had shared together suddenly rushed back to her, flooding her mind with scenes of laughter and friendship.

Suddenly, the idea of visiting Flower Bud Village seemed a whole lot better.


End file.
